Mariners Squad - HAL 12 - 2016 - 2017

[Holy]

Then the circus rolls on

 

[Forum Phoenix]

If Roy goes we are going to have to find a quality striker, one of the key positions.
He should be the start of building a quality spine.
FFS it will cost money, simple.
If we let him go what hope of picking up a quality #10?
How long will we keep Paolo before he gets grabbed by another club?
Or are we going to end up looking in the seconds bin again.
We have coped with two tough seasons, one more will be the end.

Strongly agree with all that. Except I consider it to be 3 bad years. The rusted on faithful are bone weary. I think the good will of the fans has been pretty immense these part 3 years. But the club is running on fumes now. Another poor year...? what Ancient said.

A side that can make the top six, will that be enough to change the trend of how people are viewing us? I've seen the kids of other fans change their f**king allegiance to another club. That's a death knell.

We can't just be competitive. We need to shine. That will take money. Heaven help us if we just construct another battler side. Rolling the dice with the club I think.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

This is (I think) only partly true. They're going to finish anywhere from 22pts to maybe 26pts, 4-8pts behind last year.

We're going to finish on somewhere from 20 to 23pts I reckon, 7-10pts ahead of last year.

But our end of season has been dreadful, with 1pt from the last 15 available. There's no sign of locking in good players, and in the state we're in I struggle to see how we recruit well. If you're a talented player with any ambition, are you going to go to a team whose best finish in the last three years is 8th?

The Jets at least have the prospect of perhaps seeing some investment in the squad, so their situation may actually change. I just don't see any way ours does.

We're not even going to spend the full cap in 2017/18 so there's no prospect of that changing, so any player who does come is going to ask for more than they'd ask for from a club which might give them the satisfaction of playing in a competitive team.

We're a basketcase for the foreseeable future, looking forward to brave battles for 9th place.

If you're right I think we are in serious trouble.

My optimism is purely based on 3 things.

Paolo. A good coach i think is more important than any other single factor.

Sean and Mike have publicly stated their focus is now turning on field and are clear we need to significantly strengthen. Paolo seems enrolled in this also. If they don't do it we're toast. But i don't take their intentions re signings and the squad being kept close to heir chest as being indicative of anything more than the media deal and I reckon a very likely clean out. So I see positives in the general silence unless mike and Sean were lying to us.

Several young players who we have invested in who are now HAL quality. Will help keep costs down if we sign multi new talents but we will have genuine depth - not just unknowns / untested youth.

I hadn't heard we weren't planning to spend the cap again though? Or did I miss that somehow on his podcast?

 

[FFC Mariner]

Charlesworth has a depressing track record of jetting in, making enthusiastic noises and then buggering off again and nothing changes. Indian guest signing anyone?
Maybe if we had an Australian owner rather than an absentee landlord, he could have been at the game and experienced the apathy and boredom for himself.
Scarily for the club, people I know aren't angry, they just don't care
Maybe it's far easier to be 12000 k's away rather than endure the dross we pay for.

 

[pjennings]

We're not even going to spend the full cap in 2017/18 so there's no prospect of that changing, so any player who does come is going to ask for more than they'd ask for from a club which might give them the satisfaction of playing in a competitive team.

Where was that said? Mike and Shaun both said we will be spending the full cap - they just don't know what that is yet - and they don't know the grant yet. Have things changed?

 

[FFC Mariner]

Where was that said? Mike and Shaun both said we will be spending the full cap - they just don't know what that is yet - and they don't know the grant yet. Have things changed?

He said it at the pregame in the Bowlo last time he was out

 

[Big Al]

On the bright side we are having this whinge in Rnd 24 instead of Rnd 4 last year.

Look we lost Taveras for half a season, that has cost us a few points and Faty our experienced back was either crap or injured or in a political play, he cost us points as well.

So replace them and add 2-3 more plus replace Roy and we should be alright next year.

Stick to the plan, whinge about losing players and hope Paulo pulls off some good recruiting which will be the last box needed to be checked to see if he is a quality manager. Then he must be resigned. Just for two more years to get us out of this rut.

Heard some crowd say we finally get these guys to 30-40 A League games and then they get pinched, then it's rinse and repeat.

 

[pjennings]

He said it at the pregame in the Bowlo last time he was out

Which I was at as well as the earlier forum. What I heard at both was consistent.

Maybe we both heard what we wanted to hear.

What you heard and what I heard where different. Maybe this is a question for Shaun.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

I don't think the fans can cop another season of underspending.
And to be honest, I would want us to be aiming for top 4. i mean, heck, if it wasn't for some shit refereeing at the start of the season we'd be in the top 6 right now. The fan base wants to see 'up there' not 'just making it'. Is that too much to ask for next season? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[pjennings]

I don't think the fans can cop another season of underspending.
And to be honest, I would want us to be aiming for top 4. i mean, heck, if it wasn't for some shit refereeing at the start of the season we'd be in the top 6 right now. The fan base wants to see 'up there' not 'just making it'. Is that too much to ask for next season? Maybe, maybe not.

That is not too much to ask - that is what we should all be expecting. The aim should be at least top 4, 5th and 6th are consolation prizes. TBH they shouldn't feature in the finals in a 10 team comp.

 

[Big Al]

Roy will be counting his lucky stars if he hasn't signed for Jets or just counting the cash if has as won't be Winning anything there. 5-0 loss to Nix B team

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Yep they're rubbish. I take Dibo's facts re points, but imo there season has been full of luck, and ours the exact opposite. Two quality players in the whole side. And the best of them is clearly in his twilight. They do not have our talented depth in youth and imo need a quality coach and to do a lot more rebuilding than us.

 

[pjennings]

The point is they have 2 tough games and a derby and we have two tough games and the derby. We win the derby we will likely be in front of them. BTW Adelaide have 3 tough games to come.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I was referencing the stuff about whether Roy if he's looking to win trophies is truly better off going to the jets.

Unless we're looking at spending peanuts again - then I think under Paolo we look a lot more the goods barring a few shockers than scum - regardless of the table.

Aside from refereeing. Loss of Taveres and Faty really hurt the middle of our season. And I think transfer talk has really hurt our back end. Izzo was our encumbent and doing a great job
- Roy Who I've considered an under serviced gun, seems to have lost his edge / concentration.

 

[nebakke]

I think we're underselling ourselves a bit here... As much as it's frustrating for us as fans, the fact that we have off-loaded youths to other teams over the last couple of seasons could arguably make us one of the more attractive options... The A-league clearly isn't' the sort of league where you can bank on signing for a team which will let you win trophies... I mean apart from MV, who has actually performed consistently at the top of the table since inception?
And with that, MV isn't likely to give you first team time if you're a talented youth, unless you're also very lucky.... Of course any player want to be in a competitive environment, but they want to be in a competitive environment where they are actually part of the competition, if you know what I mean. Any player who makes a call on where he wants to play, based on club performances for the last couple of seasons, is going to be immensely disappointed... I mean, look at Sydney.... Decidedly average last season - clear top of the table this season, who knows what to expect next season?

As for Fabio... I have to say, he took a significant drop in my esteem this weekend... I think it was halfway through the secodn half, that he had Appiah in the middle, alone with defenders moving out to cover the wings, so he would have been through on goal, and Fab decided to play a short pass to Monty - then stood there complaining when Monty didn't return it straight away... That was pretty descriptive for his entire game I thought... He's not as bad as he was, but he's too much of a ball-hog and tend too much towards taking the flashy option, rather than the one that'll provide a result... He clearly isn't a #10, even if he's the best option we have there.
The more I think about it, the less stressed I am about potentially losing him and even Royo... We'll recover.

 

[FFC Mariner]

According to the boys on Coast FM, a lot of important players haven't been offered contracts and the offer to Roy is under 200k.
Under. For a proven AL striker.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

According to the boys on Coast FM, a lot of important players haven't been offered contracts and the offer to Roy is under 200k.
Under. For a proven AL striker.

wtf????
If next season the fans even get a whiff of Mike not pulling out his chequebook there will be an absolute revolt. Even the rusted ons are going to stop bothering. The damage will be irrepairable.

the only justification is if they have a better idea than Roy. I mean, he's good, but far from irreplaceable. Izzo is a worse loss.

 

[yorkshireman]

I have also heard that no contracts have been offered to a lot of the players off contract along with mutterings about Paulo's future.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Look, I'm happy that a lot of the dross will be chopped. 2 seasons of last place shows they just aren't good enough.
I'm just wondering how you replace them with better players for the same money.

 

[yorkshireman]

I think blanket stating not good enough may be OTT as they have been dropped in the deep end together BUT we don't really have any defenders who are both physical AND tall for example. We should look at keeping the majority of who we have and look at strengthening the weak points exactly as we have all said all season. I totally agree with the comment earlier in the thread about Storm, great going forward in general BUT defensively can be very weak. We must strengthen central defence with a proven scrapper (like Monty but with a few inches in addition to 6'). 10 definitely needs addressing as will 9 if Roy does go. However, will Powell step in? Also we need grit in the middle and no-one gives it like Monty. He still has a year left at least at this level so should be resigned with the option of involvement with the club in the future.
From reports, Roy going won't free up too much coin but Fabio will so he is probably the only way to find the cash for a decent 10. I personally don't think Bingham is good enough for the immediate future but does have a role to play, having said that, with a quality 10, we can afford to butcher a few chances as long as we have a strong defence which we are a country mile away from at this present time.

And... God help us if anyone comes knocking on Paulo's door.